Summary:
There have been many, many cases of food related illnesses recently, and many involve the bacteria E.coli. It is a dangerous bacterium that can release toxins onto the body. It causes problems like diarrhea, vomiting, HUS, Kidney failure, anemia, internal bleeding, and destruction of internal organs. Many people think only of the short term effects of this, but it has extremely dangerous long term effects as well. While antibiotics can often cure a person sick from E.coli, it could also harm them. The antibiotic could cause the release of Shiga toxins, and after that, little can be done for people with an infection. E.coli is very easy to spread and can withstand freezing and temperatures up to 160 degrees Fahrenheit. A very tiny piece of uncooked meat could contain enough E. coli to kill a person. E. coli can be spread many ways, including through other people. Person-to-person transmission is responsible for many cases of this illness. The current methods used in meat packing and slaughterhouses are ideals ways for pathogens to spread. One single animal could contaminate up to 32,000 pounds of ground meat.
Many factors contribute to these food borne illnesses, but the main one is how the food is produced. There is much carelessness and rushing in the places where the meat is handled, and that contributes to the spread of these diseases. The author even mentions that there is feces in the meat. Outbreaks from contamination in the meat are no longer so local. They can spread much wider and affect many more people due to the way the meat is packaged. There could be dozens to hundreds of different cattle in one single burger. Another big topic in this chapter was the government regulation of slaughterhouses and meat packing factories. The government cannot demand a removal of contaminated meat among other flawed recall procedures. An industry does not have to inform the public that a recall is taken place, other than the event of a Class I recall in which the government will notify the public, but will not say exactly where the recall is. This makes it very hard to trace. The Reagan and Bush administrations cut spending on public health measures and the author claims that they cared more about cutting back on government regulation than food safety. At one point, a program called SIS-C was introduced, which involved replacing federal inspection jobs in a factory with employees to shrink the USDA budget. That was discontinued in 1993. Clinton introduced the HAACP, a plan about a science based meat inspection system, but it was very watered down due to the republican members in congress.
Basically, the main problems come down to: the feed being given to cattle, overcrowding at feedlots, poor sanitation at slaughterhouses, excessive line speeds, and lack of stringent government oversight. However, instead of focusing or fixing those things, the author claims that people in the industry will not take any responsibility and will look to “exotic technological solutions”, like irradiation.
Supporting Info:
Federal health authorities approximated that food borne illnesses sicken 76 million people. They have, in the past, caused 325,000 hospitalizations and killed 500 Americans in a single year. Many studies have confirmed that presence of harmful bacteria in meat from the U.S. After collecting meat samples from plants across the country, the USDA confirmed that 7.5% of beef samples contained Salmonella, 11.7% with Listeria monocytogenes, 30% with Staphyloccoccus Aureus, and 53.3% with Clostridium perfringens. These diseases are caused by poor conditions that animals are raised and the meat is processed. The increased speed of the process also contributes to this. The workers don’t have time to make sure everything is cleaned and up to all of the standards due to the rush to get the most work done in the shortest amount of time.
Source:
Opposing Info:
Bacteria like E. coli are found naturally in the environment. They are in the intestinal tracts of healthy animals, as well. There has been no research to-date supporting the likelihood of cattle carrying E.coli to be more likely in a feedlot than on a pasture. The current scientific safety practices used in the production process combined with strict government requirements help us to keep food borne pathogens under control. The meat industry is continually investing millions of dollars into new technology to help eliminate food borne illness. As for the author's problem with the feed of the animals, this source says that all cattle can carry it, regardless of what they eat. Some evidence may show that manipulating their diet can affect bacteria levels; it cannot identify a specific regimen to reduce E.coli levels.
Summary:
There have been many, many cases of food related illnesses recently, and many involve the bacteria E.coli. It is a dangerous bacterium that can release toxins onto the body. It causes problems like diarrhea, vomiting, HUS, Kidney failure, anemia, internal bleeding, and destruction of internal organs. Many people think only of the short term effects of this, but it has extremely dangerous long term effects as well. While antibiotics can often cure a person sick from E.coli, it could also harm them. The antibiotic could cause the release of Shiga toxins, and after that, little can be done for people with an infection. E.coli is very easy to spread and can withstand freezing and temperatures up to 160 degrees Fahrenheit. A very tiny piece of uncooked meat could contain enough E. coli to kill a person. E. coli can be spread many ways, including through other people. Person-to-person transmission is responsible for many cases of this illness. The current methods used in meat packing and slaughterhouses are ideals ways for pathogens to spread. One single animal could contaminate up to 32,000 pounds of ground meat.
Many factors contribute to these food borne illnesses, but the main one is how the food is produced. There is much carelessness and rushing in the places where the meat is handled, and that contributes to the spread of these diseases. The author even mentions that there is feces in the meat. Outbreaks from contamination in the meat are no longer so local. They can spread much wider and affect many more people due to the way the meat is packaged. There could be dozens to hundreds of different cattle in one single burger. Another big topic in this chapter was the government regulation of slaughterhouses and meat packing factories. The government cannot demand a removal of contaminated meat among other flawed recall procedures. An industry does not have to inform the public that a recall is taken place, other than the event of a Class I recall in which the government will notify the public, but will not say exactly where the recall is. This makes it very hard to trace. The Reagan and Bush administrations cut spending on public health measures and the author claims that they cared more about cutting back on government regulation than food safety. At one point, a program called SIS-C was introduced, which involved replacing federal inspection jobs in a factory with employees to shrink the USDA budget. That was discontinued in 1993. Clinton introduced the HAACP, a plan about a science based meat inspection system, but it was very watered down due to the republican members in congress.
Basically, the main problems come down to: the feed being given to cattle, overcrowding at feedlots, poor sanitation at slaughterhouses, excessive line speeds, and lack of stringent government oversight. However, instead of focusing or fixing those things, the author claims that people in the industry will not take any responsibility and will look to “exotic technological solutions”, like irradiation.
Supporting Info:
Federal health authorities approximated that food borne illnesses sicken 76 million people. They have, in the past, caused 325,000 hospitalizations and killed 500 Americans in a single year. Many studies have confirmed that presence of harmful bacteria in meat from the U.S. After collecting meat samples from plants across the country, the USDA confirmed that 7.5% of beef samples contained Salmonella, 11.7% with Listeria monocytogenes, 30% with Staphyloccoccus Aureus, and 53.3% with Clostridium perfringens. These diseases are caused by poor conditions that animals are raised and the meat is processed. The increased speed of the process also contributes to this. The workers don’t have time to make sure everything is cleaned and up to all of the standards due to the rush to get the most work done in the shortest amount of time.
Source:
http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/processing/
Opposing Info:
Bacteria like E. coli are found naturally in the environment. They are in the intestinal tracts of healthy animals, as well. There has been no research to-date supporting the likelihood of cattle carrying E.coli to be more likely in a feedlot than on a pasture. The current scientific safety practices used in the production process combined with strict government requirements help us to keep food borne pathogens under control. The meat industry is continually investing millions of dollars into new technology to help eliminate food borne illness. As for the author's problem with the feed of the animals, this source says that all cattle can carry it, regardless of what they eat. Some evidence may show that manipulating their diet can affect bacteria levels; it cannot identify a specific regimen to reduce E.coli levels.
Source:
http://www.safefoodinc.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3&Itemid=11